Comprehensive Dental CareAppointments: (202) 466-3599

Alan Marx D.D.S.

Comprehensive Dental Care

Don't let untreated dental problems get you down. Rebuild your confidence with a beautiful new smile. From simple treatments that make a big difference, to more extensive work, unveiling the smile you were meant to have can have profound life-changing effects. Serving the Washington DC, DC area and offering sedation dentistry, Dr. Marx can help you develop an affordable treatment plan you'll feel good about.

For comfortable tooth cleaning in the Washington DC, District of Columbia area, Dr. Alan Marx is known for having a gentle touch. The friendly team at Comprehensive Dental Care provides dental hygiene treatments for a whiter smile.

Maintaining good dental hygiene is the foundation for healthy teeth and gums. We're committed to helping you have a lifetime of oral health.

For comfortable dental hygiene treatment in the Washington DC, District of Columbia area, Dr. Alan Marx is known for having a gentle touch. The friendly team at Comprehensive Dental Care provides teeth cleaning for a whiter smile.

Maintaining good dental hygiene is the foundation for healthy teeth and gums. We're committed to helping you have a lifetime of oral health.

A negative self image can be detrimental to many facets of your life. Washington DC area dentist Dr. Alan Marx understands the positive life-changing power that a healthy and beautiful smile can bring to you. Here at Comprehensive Dental Care, we don't want you to be embarrassed any longer. Why not take your smile - and even your life - to a new level of self-confidence and beauty?

At Comprehensive Dental Care, we offer quality, personalized care. Serving the Washington DC, DC area, we're happy to discuss the variety of treatment options available to you. If you're interested in sedation or sleep dentistry options, please schedule an appointment with Alan Marx, D.D.S., and we can provide you with all the information you need.

Ernie Anderson D.D.S.

Ernie Anderson DDS - The Woodlands Office

Dr. Ernie Anderson, practicing in the The Woodlands, TX area, can provide you with the highest quality dental crowns available, and restore your smile. Using state-of-the-art materials and cutting-edge techniques, Dr. Anderson can make your smile look healthy and natural again.

At Ernie Anderson DDS - The Woodlands Office we offer a range of treatment options for sleep apnea. If snoring or obstructed breathing is a problem, call Dr. Anderson today to learn how we can help you breathe easier.

Left untreated, sleep apnea can cause serious health problems, so contact us now to schedule an examination.

Ernie Anderson DDS - The Woodlands Office is a trusted The Woodlands area dental implants practice providing natural-looking, comfortable tooth replacement. We make it our mission to use a gentle touch during the process.

We hold ourselves to the highest standards to replace missing teeth and provide you with natural-looking results. Our goal is to restore your confidence and your bright, healthy smile.

A beautiful smile can brighten your life! If you are continuously hiding your chipped, stained, or cracked teeth from others, it's time for a change! Ernie Anderson, D.D.S., a trusted The Woodlands area dentist, can fix chips, cracks, and stains to reveal a great new smile - and a new you. You'll look so good you'll wonder why you waited so long!

Here at Ernie Anderson DDS - The Woodlands Office, your comfort is our number one priority. We will do our utmost to put you at ease and keep you feeling relaxed and secure. Under the experienced leadership of Dr. Ernie Anderson, our dedicated team of professionals is at your service to explain your treatment thoroughly and answer any questions you may have.

Request an Appointment With Ernie Anderson DDS - The Woodlands Office

Dr. Riemer Dental GroupAppointments: (559) 924-2520

Denise Riemer D.D.S.

Dr. Riemer Dental Group

If you're facing oral surgery or tooth extractions, you need reassurance and information from a trusted professional. Let Lemoore area dentist Dr. Denise Riemer and her friendly staff put your mind at ease. Let us explain how your procedure can be conducted safely, quickly, and comfortably.

Denise Riemer, D.D.S., provides general dentistry for people of all ages. Dental health is important during your entire life. When your teeth are healthy, it follows that you will be healthier, and your quality of life increases. No matter what your age, Dr. Riemer Dental Group is here to serve your dental needs in the Lemoore, California area.

Here at Dr. Riemer Dental Group based in the Lemoore, CA area, Dr. Denise Riemer offers a wide selection of functional appliances to correct the positioning of your teeth and jaws. These can be used alone or before and after treatment with braces.

Dr. Riemer Dental Group, serving Lemoore and the surrounding area, is dedicated to providing current and past members of the military, as well as their qualifying dependents, with exceptional dental care. Dr. Riemer hopes to see you soon.

Did you know that cosmetic braces from trusted Lemoore area braces dentist Denise Riemer, D.D.S. can deliver stunning results beyond straighter teeth? She can evaluate you for Damon™ clear braces. They're designed to subtly change the shape of your face while fixing crooked teeth, bite problems and teeth with gaps.

The doctor will gladly answer all of you questions about this cutting-edge orthodontic approach. You can set up an appointment at your convenience to discuss creating your gorgeous new smile.

Conscious Sedation Dentistry: Managing Dental Anxiety

All too frequently, a planned visit to the dentist is looked on with a degree of dread and foreboding. This is referred to as dental anxiety.

Dental anxiety is not unusual, for it is quite natural for a person to be uncomfortable when placed in a position in which they feel that they are vulnerable, as occurs in the dental chair.

It is important that a patient tell the doctor if they have any dental anxiety related to their planned dental treatment. Keeping their fears hidden can only lead to a much more unpleasant experience for the patient and, in more extreme circumstances, may even increase the likelihood of certain emergencies occurring, such as fainting.

Once the sedation dentist is aware of the patient's dental anxiety and fears, there are many ways in which they may be addressed. In some cases, simply discussing the planned procedure is all that is necessary to alleviate the patient's dental anxiety.

When this is not enough, other highly effective and safe sedation techniques can be used to alleviate dental anxiety. If the technique involves the administration of a drug, it is termed conscious sedation dentistry.

The most readily available routes of conscious sedation are: oral, inhalation, intravenous and intramuscular. For extremely fearful dental patients, general anesthesia may be required.

Oral Conscious Sedation Dentistry

Many dentists will prescribe a sedative drug to be taken by mouth prior to the planned treatment. If the individual has an even greater degree of dental anxiety, the doctor may prescribe an oral conscious sedative to be taken at home one hour prior to going to sleep on the evening before the appointment.

If the drug is administered at home, it is IMPERATIVE that the patient NOT DRIVE A CAR to the appointment. Patients receiving oral conscious sedation are not permitted to drive a car or operate a motor vehicle for 24 hours following their appointment.

Inhalation Conscious Sedation Dentistry

The use of inhalation conscious sedation (nitrous oxide and oxygen) has been a mainstay of sedation techniques in dentistry for generations and still represents the most frequently employed technique. Commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous oxide-oxygen is used by more than 35% of all U.S. dentists.

An advantage of this technique of inhalation conscious sedation is that most people receiving it recover promptly and may be permitted to leave the dental office unescorted and resume normal activities immediately.

Inhalation conscious sedation is most effective with mild to moderate degrees of dental anxiety.

Intravenous Conscious Sedation Dentistry

Though not as readily available as other conscious sedation techniques, intravenous (IV) conscious sedation is a safe and highly effective technique for management of moderate to more severe levels of dental anxiety.

Sedation dentists who employ IV conscious sedation have received specialized advanced training and certification by their state Board of Dental Examiners.

Drugs administered intravenously are more effective than the same drugs taken orally. A major benefit of some of these IV drugs is amnesia.

The patient will have no memory of some, or even all, of the dental treatment. This will lead the patient to think they were asleep during the treatment when, in reality, they were awake, but comfortable, at all times.

During the procedure, monitoring devices will be attached to the patient. These devices monitor the effectiveness of one's breathing (pulse oximeter), blood pressure and heart rate, increasing the safety of the procedure.

Patients receiving IV conscious sedation are not permitted to leave the dental office unescorted at the conclusion of the procedure.

Intramuscular Conscious Sedation Dentistry

Less commonly employed for adult patients, intramuscular (IM) conscious sedation is a relatively effective technique for management of moderate levels of dental anxiety and fear.

IM conscious sedation is more often employed in the management of fearful children. Sedative drugs are injected into the muscle of the upper arm or the thigh, producing sedation in approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

Dentists using IM conscious sedation have received specialized advanced training and certification by their state Board of Dental Examiners and will employ the same monitors described in the IV conscious sedation section.

General Anesthesia

Though the techniques of conscious sedation described above effectively manage more than 90% of all fearful dental patients, some may require general anesthesia in order to relieve their dental anxiety during their dental treatment.

When general anesthesia is used, the sedation dentist will employ a person who is trained and certified in general anesthesia to manage the patient while the dentist carries out the dental treatment.

This person will be a dentist anesthesiologist, a medical anesthesiologist, or, in some cases, a nurse anesthetist, whose sole responsibility is to ensure the safety of the sleeping (unconscious) patient while the dentistry is being done.

Sleep dentists using general anesthesia have received a minimum of two years of specialized advanced training and have been certified by their state Board of Dental Examiners. Monitors will be employed to help ensure the safety of the procedure.

Not all dentists employ conscious sedation techniques to relieve dental anxiety. It is important for patients to voice concerns and dental fears with their dentist during their first visit to the office.

The dentist will seek to work out a treatment plan that will best accommodate the patients needs. In some situations it may be necessary to refer a patient to a doctor who has these techniques available.

By Stanley F. Malamed, DDS

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.

Dental Work and Dentistry Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is endodontics?

A. Endodotics is the area of dentistry that specifically deals with what is called the dental pulp within a tooth.

Q. What is dental pulp?

A. The dental pulp is a soft tissue comprised of tiny arteries, veins, nerves and lymph vessels for the tooth.

Q. Where does the term root canal come from?

A. The tooth is comprised of three basic components. The first component is the crown/enamel, which is seen by the naked eye.

The next level of the tooth is dentin, which is under the enamel and the “housing” for the dental pulp.

The final component is the dental pulp and is the core of the tooth. This bulk of the dental pulp is in the center of the tooth or the pulp chamber, and is connected to the Mandibular Canal through the root canals. The root canals are like veins for the dental pulp.

Q. What does the procedure root canal mean?

A. Root canal has become a term for a procedure involving the dental pulp. When the dental pulp has been exposed and damaged, it must be treated professionally and this process is usually referred to as getting a root canal.

Q. What does a root canal procedure entail?

A. Once the dental pulp has been infected, it must be removed from both the pulp chamber and the root canals. Once it has been removed, the pulp chamber and root canals are thoroughly cleaned and enlarged. Based on the level of infection, the dentist may choose to clean the area more than once. After the area is free of infection, the dentist will fill the root canals and pulp chamber with a filling that will prevent any bacteria from entering the area. Finally, the dentist will place a crown over the tooth to restore it to its original shape.

Q. What causes dental pulp to become damaged or infected?

A. Normally, when a deep cavity occurs, it exposes the dental pulp to the bacteria inside the mouth. When exposed to this bacteria, the dental pulp can become infected and thus cause the inside of the tooth to be infected.

Q. What can happen if infected dental pulp is not treated?

A. Overtime, the infected pulp will die. At the same time, pus from the infection will develop at the base of the tooth and cause an abscess to form. If this occurs, it is not uncommon for the abscess to cause the bone holding the tooth to deteriorate. If this deterioration becomes too severe, the tooth will fall out.

Q. What role does the computer play in the dental care industry?

A. In the future, patient records may be kept on computer disks, including visual images captured on intraoral cameras. A computerized workstation beside the patient's chair will give the dentist the ability to view the patient's history from disk.

Also, the dentist might use a voice-recognition system to ask the computer to assist in finding that data, or create a “before and after” image so the patient can preview the result of dental work before it is done.

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.